Quick answer: For most buyers, the Casio PX-S1100 (around $679-$730 at US retailers) is the best Casio digital piano — 192-note polyphony, 18 tones, and Bluetooth MIDI/Audio via an included adapter, in Casio’s signature ultra-slim Privia cabinet. Buyers who want far more onboard sounds should look at the PX-S3100 (around $1,049.99), but know going in that it uses the identical dual 8-watt speaker system as the cheaper PX-S1100 — the price jump buys 700 tones instead of 18, not louder or richer built-in sound. Console-furniture shoppers should consider the Celviano AP-470 (around $1,699.99), which steps up to 256-note polyphony and a 40-watt cabinet speaker system.
Casio currently sells digital pianos across three separate families most US shoppers run into: the slim, portable Privia (PX-S) line, the furniture-style Celviano (AP) consoles, and the budget-focused CDP-S compacts. Unlike a simple tiered lineup where every spec improves with price, Casio’s families solve different problems — and in at least one case, two models a few hundred dollars apart share the exact same built-in speakers. We ranked the current lineup by what actually changes as price climbs.
Our top picks at a glance
| Casio model | Line | Best for | Polyphony | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Casio PX-S1100 | Privia (portable) | Best overall | 192-note | ~$679-$730 |
| Casio CDP-S160 | CDP-S (compact) | Best budget | 64-note | ~$400-$550 |
| Casio PX-S3100 | Privia (portable) | Best for tone variety | 192-note (shared engine) | ~$1,049.99 |
| Casio AP-470 | Celviano (console) | Best console | 256-note | ~$1,699.99 |
1. Casio PX-S1100 — Best Overall
Casio PX-S1100
- 192-note polyphony and Smart Scaled Hammer Action Keyboard II, per retailer spec sheets.
- 18 built-in tones, Bluetooth MIDI and Audio via an included WU-BT10-style adapter, and AA-battery power for practicing away from an outlet.
- One of the slimmest 88-key hammer-action cabinets Casio sells, at roughly 232mm deep.
A digital piano this size still ships in a surprisingly heavy box — try Amazon Prime free for 30 days to get it to your door in two days instead of waiting on standard shipping. The PX-S1100 is our top Casio pick because it bundles 192-note polyphony, Bluetooth Audio streaming, and battery power into the cheapest current Privia model — a combination the CDP-S line below it doesn’t match. We covered this exact model in more depth, including what changed from its PX-S1000 predecessor, in our dedicated PX-S1100 review.
2. Casio CDP-S160 — Best Budget
Casio CDP-S160
- 88 keys with Scaled Hammer Action and 3 touch-sensitivity levels, per retailer spec sheets.
- 64-note polyphony and 10 onboard tones — a third of the PX-S1100's polyphony ceiling, at a lower price.
- Dual 8W speakers, a bundled sustain pedal, and a included music rest on most retail packages.
The CDP-S160 is a legitimate budget entry point, but don’t assume its slim cabinet means Privia-level internals. Retailer spec sheets consistently list only 64-note polyphony against the PX-S1100’s 192-note figure above — the same gap we already flagged on the older CDP-S110 in our best cheap digital piano guide. In practice, 64 notes is plenty for a single melody line, but it runs out fast once you add a sustained pedal and full chords in both hands; older notes get cut to make room for new ones, a real audible effect called note-stealing. If you play with the pedal down often, the extra $150-200 for the PX-S1100 buys real headroom, not just a spec-sheet number.
3. Casio PX-S3100 — Best for Tone Variety
Casio PX-S3100
- 700 onboard tones versus the PX-S1100's 18 — by far the largest sound-library jump in Casio's current lineup.
- Same slim ~232mm-deep Privia cabinet and the same dual 8W speaker system as the cheaper PX-S1100, per retailer spec sheets.
- Bluetooth MIDI and Audio included, same as the PX-S1100.
This is the clearest naming trap in Casio’s current lineup, and it cuts the opposite way from what you’d expect. The PX-S3100 costs roughly $350-400 more than the PX-S1100, and most buyers assume that premium buys a bigger, louder instrument. It doesn’t: multiple retailer spec sheets list the identical dual 8-watt amplifier speaker system on both models. What actually scales with the PX-S3100’s price is tone variety — 700 onboard sounds instead of 18 — which matters a lot if you want orchestral or band-style sounds, and not at all if you only ever play acoustic piano tone through headphones or an external amp. Check which problem you’re actually solving before paying for the step up.
4. Casio AP-470 — Best Console
Casio AP-470
- Tri-Sensor Scaled Hammer Action II with synthetic ebony and ivory-feel keys, per retailer spec sheets.
- 256-note polyphony, 22 tones, and Casio's AiR sound engine with simulated string resonance and lid position.
- 40-watt, 4-speaker cabinet sound system — built-in projection none of the portable Privia models above can match.
The AP-470 is Casio’s pick for buyers who want a genuine piece of furniture, not a portable board. It’s the only model in this roundup where polyphony actually climbs past the Privia ceiling (256-note versus 192-note) and where the built-in speaker system is meaningfully larger than anything in the PX-S line — a real console cabinet has room for a 40-watt, 4-speaker array that a 232mm-deep slim case simply can’t fit. If you’ll always play through the onboard speakers rather than headphones or an external system, this is where that investment actually pays off.
How Casio’s lineup actually differs
- Privia (PX-S), portable. The PX-S1100 is the value sweet spot — full 192-note polyphony and Bluetooth Audio in Casio’s cheapest current slim model. The PX-S3100 shares its exact speaker hardware but roughly 39x the onboard tone count, so the extra money is a sound-library upgrade, not a louder-piano upgrade.
- CDP-S, compact budget. Slimmer and cheaper than Privia, but the CDP-S160’s 64-note polyphony ceiling is a third of the PX-S1100’s — know that trade-off before assuming “Casio slim cabinet” means the same internals across the board.
- Celviano (AP), console. The only line here where both polyphony (256-note) and built-in speaker wattage (40W) genuinely exceed every portable model — the trade-off is cabinet size and console pricing.
If you’re still deciding whether you need a weighted action at all before committing to Casio or another brand, see our digital piano vs keyboard comparison. For a cross-brand view at the entry price point, our best digital piano guide covers Yamaha and Roland alternatives in the same range as the PX-S1100. And if you already own a Casio board and are shopping for a pedal, check our best sustain pedal guide — M-Audio’s SP-2 specifically lists Casio-compatible polarity switching.
The bottom line
For most buyers, the Casio PX-S1100 is the best Casio digital piano — full 192-note polyphony, Bluetooth Audio, and battery power, without console pricing. Only step up to the PX-S3100 if you specifically want its much larger tone library, and only consider the CDP-S160 if budget is the hard limit and you rarely play pedal-heavy full chords.